U23 Vietnam and U23 China will meet in the semi-finals of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship, taking place at 10:30 PM on January 20th.
Looking back at the past, the most recent encounter between the two teams took place at the CFA Team China Panda Cup 2025 in China. At that time, the team led by interim coach Dinh Hong Vinh won 1-0, with the only goal scored by Pham Minh Phuc.
This victory marks the first time since 2019 that U23 Vietnam has overcome U23 China. If calculating the overall matches at the U23 level (including friendly), the two teams have met 8 times with a fairly balanced record when each side has 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats.
However, in official matches, the history of confrontations leans towards China. The two teams only met 2 times in the framework of the 2000 Olympic qualifiers in 1999 and U23 Vietnam lost heavily both at home and away.
After that period, the matches mainly took place in the framework of friendly matches. U23 Vietnam once won 3-1 at the 2009 VFF Cup, drew 1-1 in 2016, won 2-0 in 2019 in Wuhan (China) with a double by Nguyen Tien Linh.
In the past two years, the two teams have continued to meet in China for a friendly tournament. Faces like Quoc Viet or Minh Phuc have all left their mark and are still present at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship finals.
At this year's tournament, the two teams entered the semi-finals with contrasting images. U23 Vietnam showed proactiveness and good scoring ability, while U23 China relied on solid and disciplined defense.
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